Laugh, Learn, and Meditate

Laugh

Obviously if you’re feeling depressed, discouraged, dejected, or just a little down, laughter is the best medicine. Laughing is not only a powerful antidote for adjectives that start with “d”. It also boosts your immune system, relaxes your body, improves blood flow, and releases endorphins in your brain.

So spend time with friends. Laugh with other people. Laughter is contagious, just like yawning. Or herpes.

If you don’t currently have access to a friend, watching or listening to comedy can easily put you in a better mood. Studies have shown that interaction with clever comedy can stimulate creativity.

Educate yourself

Guess what? Learning stimulates your brain. Surprise surprise. And believe it or not, learning is a skill that can be practiced and improved upon. You can learn to learn more efficiently and effectively. Find a subject that intrigues you, find a few good books on the subject, and start researching.

If you’re curious about the meaning of life, study the great philosophers and religious thinkers. If you’re curious how cars work, study automobile mechanics. If you’re curious how computers work, study programming. If you want to learn how to write better, read great literature. Get inspired by great ideas.

Educating yourself will also help you find your passion, if you’re still not sure what it is. If you’re always learning, you’re more likely to stumble across something that may change your life or your worldview. Approach education with an open heart and mind.

Meditate

Honestly, I don’t know much about meditation, but everywhere I look on the internet seems to recommend it. It’s been associated with improving focus, “thickening” your brain, and giving you much more control over your mind, body, and emotions. It’s a skill that requires practice and dedication, but the benefits are said to be well worth the initial struggle to make it a habit.

From Reddit:

“It trains your mind to focus first and foremost. If you can control which thoughts you give attention to and which you don’t, in a sense, you become the master of your universe. After all, “The mind is everything. What you think you become,” – Buddha.

Once seemingly immutable thoughts, feelings, likes, dislikes, ways of thinking, they all of the sudden become much more malleable. They are all just thoughts and can be dropped if you so choose. You start to realize these things that you thought were concrete aspects of yourself may not be so concrete after all.”